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Gettysburg Address Rhetorical Analysis Essay

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Gettysburg Address Rhetorical Analysis Essay
In the Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln utilizes antithesis, repetition, and parallelism to reinforce his purpose for this address and deliver an emotional tone that can persuade all people to continue to fight the same fight that these men died for. First of all, Lincoln exercises the literary device, antithesis, to deliver an emotional appeal. For example, he states "... as a final resting place for those who here gave their live so that a nation might live." As for, the words "gave their lives", meaning dead, and "might live", meaning still alive, contradict each other stating that in order for something to have survive, something had to die. In this particular address, in order for America, the nation, to be still standing is due to the men who died in the battlefield. That is to say, this example of antithesis reminds the people that there was blood and sacrifices in order for the nation to have survived.
Afterwards, repetition is being utilize to increase the meaning for this dedication. He starts off by saying," we can not dedicate - we can not consecrate-- we can not hallow- this ground... The brave men have consecrated it." The repetition of the words "we can not" are stressed to …show more content…
Explicitly he states, "that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from earth." In the same way, he adds on to his statement about encouraging the people to continue to fight for the ideas that the brave men did. This form of parallelism of "of the people, ... by the people, for the people" also emphasizes a feeling of patriotism. It reminds them that if these men are willing to die for the nation then why shouldn't they do the same by fighting the same fight. In addition, Lincoln strongly suggests that these words "people" forms a strong connection to power when in a relationship to
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